Category Hike reports
Makheka
Heritage Day in South Africa is celebrated on 24 September each year. It is commonly celebrated by a good traditional South African braai (barbecue). I prefer to celebrate South Africa’s mountain heritage over this weekend. While South Africa might not have the highest mountains, there are plenty of interesting ones that are well worth the […]
Marakele
One of my ongoing projects is to attempt to climb all 24 mountains in South Africa with at least 1000m topographic prominence. The list contains 18 Western Cape peaks, 3 Eastern Cape Peaks and 3 Limpopo peaks. The closest peak to my house is the high point at Marakele National Park. The official Government Survey […]
Makoaneng
Much like most of my writeups, this one starts with me studying a map late on a Saturday night in October 2015. I had been looking at a list of peaks above 3400m in Lesotho – with nothing above 3300m on the Middle and Western Ridges, these peaks are generally shown on the Geoseries Hiking […]
Mauritius hiking
While generally not considered a hiking destination, Mauritius actually has a reasonable number of established hiking routes. The weather tends to be hot, and routes don’t have usable water – but with most hikes being reasonably short, this isn’t an issue if you are prepared. While tourists are rarely found on hiking routes, every hike […]
Simonsberg
At 1399m, Simonsberg may not be one of South Africa’s higher mountains – but it is one of only 24 in the country with 1000m topographic prominence. It is also a definite contender for SA’s most beautiful mountain. It is also one of very few mountains that I consider to be genuinely freestanding. I had […]
Camel/Organ Pipes day hike
There are seven Drakensberg passes that I have rated five stars in terms of quality – four of which are at Didima. So when I am asked what my favourite Drakensberg region is, I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone when I respond Didima. With work sending me to Pietermaritzburg for a […]
Outer Mnweni Needle
The Mnweni Needles are one of the more striking features of the Drakensberg. For some reason, they are often overlooked, and are rarely climbed. In 2017 I attempted to climb them, but a combination of heavy climbing packs and underestimating how slow the approach would be resulted in a 3 day hike to the saddle […]
The Molar: the Dragon’s Teeth
In August 2019, when I agreed to relocate to Gauteng for work purposes, I knew my days of being in the Drakensberg every few weeks were about to come to an end. To make up for it, between September and December 2019, I did 13 hikes totaling 339km in the Drakensberg and including 14 passes […]
Mnweni Traverse – The Manxome Jabberwocky
Twas Heritage Day, and the mountains fairDid rise above like an owlAll smokey was the mountain airAnd the Berg winds did howl Ok, before I butcher Lewis Carol’s poem Jabberwocky any further, I’m going to leave my poor attempt at poetry there! After a very long absence from the mountains, with leisure inter-provincial travel being […]
The Crack and the Mudslide
My first trip to the Drakensberg was a hike up to Tiger Falls when I was 6 years old. I remember it being so steep and difficult, I remember a super scary bridge over the river that looked like a slide and had no protection on the side, I remember a sketchy traverse above a […]
Ghaznavid Hiking 
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